Sony Pictures is rebooting Charlie’s Angels in 2019, and here's everything you need to know about the new movie. The original Charlie’s Angels series ran on ABC from 1976 to 1981, and it was something of a pop culture phenomenon. Produced by TV legend Aaron Spelling, the series starred Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Farrah Fawcett as three women working at a private detective agency under the leadership of their enigmatic unseen boss, Charlie. While critics at the time were mixed on the show's merits and it developed a reputation for being a weekly excuse for eye candy, audiences loved it. For its first two seasons, Charlie's Angels was one of the top rated series in the United States.
The Charlie's Angels series inspired countless re-imaginings, but its most famous remake happened on the big screen in 2000. Directed by McG and starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, the Charlie's Angels movie was a modern day revamp of the series that emphasized campy comedy and giddy brainless fun. Critics were surprisingly warm on the film, and it went on to gross over $264 million worldwide. A sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, followed in 2003 to similar box office numbers, but it had worse reviews and a smaller profit of margin thanks to an increased budget. A 2011 reboot of the TV series aired on ABC, featuring Minka Kelly and Rachael Taylor, but it was cancelled after just four episodes due to low ratings.
Related: Charlie's Angels: First Official Photo Teases Globe-Spanning Adventures
Still, the Charlie's Angels story is one that studios have been keen to copy. With the original series and its 2011 remake, the format created a star-making vehicle for its trio of stars. With the movies, it became the platform for three of the biggest female stars on the planet to headline an action movie, something that remains a depressing rarity even today. Now, with Wonder Woman reminding Hollywood that action heroines can make serious money and Captain Marvel set to do the same for Disney, it’s time for the other major studios to play catch-up and revive a few familiar movie franchises that can be used to hopefully establish new action franchises with women at the front and center. Step forward Charlie’s Angels.
Charlie's Angels Cast: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, & Ella Balinska
While the Charlie's Angels movie from 2000 emphasized A-List star power with its trio of Angels, the new movie is relying more on unknowns. Naomi Scott, soon to be seen as Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, will star as one of the central heroines, as well fellow British actress Ella Balinska, whose biggest role to date is a one episode appearance in the British crime series Midsomer Murders. It seems like a risky move to have two unknown actresses headlining a major property like this, but then there’s the final third of the group: Kristen Stewart.
Still best known for the Twilight series but having built up a decade's worth of acclaimed performances in independent dramas, Stewart has by and large avoided big-budget Hollywood projects of this caliber since stepping away from the world of sparkly vampires. Charlie's Angels signals a shift back into the mainstream for Stewart in 2019, as well as the upcoming action-thriller Underwater, which is predicted to come out some time this year. Other non-Angels cast members include Jonathan Tucker (Hannibal), Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I've Loved Before), Nat Faxon (Disenchantment), and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games).
There Are Multiple "Bosleys" & "Angels" In Charlie's Angels
John Bosley, an employee of Charlie, was the token guy who would frequently assist the Angels in their missions. Originally, he was included in the narrative because ABC feared that 1970s audiences would reject a story about three women fighting crime all on their own. Attitudes have, thankfully, changed since then, but each iteration of Charlie's Angels has had its own Bosley in the mix. The 2000 film had Bill Murray, who would be replaced in the sequel by Bernie Mac, and the 2011 reboot had Ramon Rodriguez. For the 2019 Charlie's Angels movie, there will be not one but three Bosleys; Sir Patrick Stewart and Djimon Hounsou are the two male Bosleys, and joining them will be the co-writer and director of the film, Elizabeth Banks. Furthermore, it's been reported that there will be a network of Angels around the world, so the new movie may not just be centered on the aforementioned trio.
Elizabeth Banks Is Directing Charlie's Angels
Elizabeth Banks has been a familiar face in film and television for over 20 years. She's starred in everything, from cult comedies (The 40 Year Old Virgin and Wet Hot American Summer) and Oscar dramas (Seabiscuit) to superhero movies (Betty Brant in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy) and other big-budget franchises (The Hunger Games). In 2015, she made the jump to directing when she made her debut with Pitch Perfect 2. The sequel made $287.5 million worldwide from a reported budget of $30 million, and it made Banks one of the few women to direct a major Hollywood release in that year.
Banks directing Charlie's Angels is still a major deal in terms of female representation in top directorial positions. A study from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University revealed that only 8% of the top 250 highest grossing films of 2018 were directed by women, down 4% from the previous year (via /Film). Giving a potentially lucrative property like this to a female director is not something that happens very often in Hollywood and represents a positive step forward.
Charlie's Angels Releases In November 2019 (After Multiple Delays)
Charlie's Angels is scheduled to be released on November 1, 2019, by Columbia Pictures and Sony. It was previously scheduled for release on September 27, and before that on June 9. Filming completed on December 9, 2018, so while the reasons for the repeated delays remain unknown, it may simply be that the post-production process required more time than would have been possible with a six-month period. Plus, when Wonder Woman 1984 vacated that spot, it was too good of an opportunity for Sony to pass up on. Charlie's Angels will open against Motherless Brooklyn, a crime drama directed by and starring Edward Norton, and Terminator 6, which sees the return of Linda Hamilton to the role of Sarah Connor. The original release date would have put the film up against X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which finally settled on a June 2019 release after many delays of its own.
There's No Charlie's Angels Trailer Yet
Currently, little is known about this iteration of Charlie’s Angels. There is no trailer, no poster, no plot synopsis, and the Angels themselves don’t even have names yet. Expect a teaser trailer to drop during the late spring/early summer, with a full trailer possibly appearing before another major Columbia/Sony release, such as Men in Black: International (June 14) or Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5).
